Roller side bearing



A. STUCKI ROLLER SIDE BEARING Aug. 7, 1923. 1,464,275

Filed May l2 1922 'FIG-El.

/N VENTOR l? 1 WITNESSE i t Patented Aug. 7, airain ARNOLD STUCKI, 0l JPZE'TSBURGH, ENNSYLVNM.

ROLLER SIDE BEARING.

Application led Evay 12, 1922.

To all whom t may concern .Be it known that l, ARNOLD SrUoni, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful improvement in Roller Side Bearings, of which the following is a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to roller side bearings for railway cars, and particularly to a side bearing adapted to be attached to the truck or lower bolster, and cooperating with an upper bearing plate attached to the car body.

lt is an object of the invention to provide a bearing of this type which is self-centering, which is simple in construction, eflicient in operation, economical to manufacture, which is self-cleaning under normal `operating conditions, and which is void of all special mechanism such as teeth, recesses and the like. i

lt has been found that in many side bearings, even of the self-centering type, that when the brakes of the train are suddenly applied the roller will no longer remain centered, but will travel towards the ends of the housing or cage under the inertia of the roller employed therein, and should the upper bearing plate attached to the car body be brought into Contact with the roller while in its displaced position, the effectiveness of the bearing will be either greatly reduced or rendered ineffective.

lt is a Special object of the invention to provide a bearing composed of the minimum number of parts which can be easily assembled and disassembled' and one in which the roller is self-centering but in which the roller will be retained in its centered position while out of contact with the car body regardless of abnormal extraneous forces set up during the breaking action above referred to without detracting from' the eifectiveness `of the bearing whenever` the car body contacts the roller.

These and other'objects of the invention will more readily appear when taken in connection with the following description and the appended claims.

ln the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 isy a plan view of the preferred construction embodying the invention; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view of the same; and Fig, .3, a sectional view taken on line lll-lll of Fig. 1.

Serial No. 560,336.

`walls 2 and are provided with the openings` i and d respectively, and the end walls l and 5 with the respective openingsfl and 10, all of said openings being positioned near the lower portion of the housing so as to render the bearing self-cleaning. rlhe housing' is also equipped with the strengthening ribs 11.

` Positioned within the housing is a spring bearing plate 12 whichy is peculiarly shaped for purposes to be presently described. rEhe width of the bearing plate 12 is slightly less than the distance between the side walls 2 and 3 of the housing, and its central portion 13 vis concave so as to receive and retain a cylindrical free roller 14; which is disposed within the housing and rests upon the upper surface of the bearing plate. The curvature ofthe concave central portion of the plate 12 corresponds substantiallyT to that of the roller 1li for a substantial distance to either side of the point of contact between the bearing plate and the bottom of the housing, the extremities 15 and 16 of the plate extending upwardly at either side of the concave central portion, but at an inclina` tion somewhat less than that of the central portion 13. The extremities 15 and 16 project through the end openings 9 and 10, respectively and are bent abruptly upwardly` at their extreme outer en ds 17 and 18, which ends lie in close proximity vto the end walls 4 and 5 of the housing. 'lhe length of the bent ends 17 and 18 is slightly less than the height of the openings 9 and 10 so as to permit the plate 12 to be readily positioned by inserting the same through said openings in anl obvious manner.

' y.ln assemblino` the parts of the bearing, one end of the spring bearing plate 12 is projected outwardly through one of the end openings 9 and 1G. and the opposite end then flexed downwardly towards the `bot-1 tom of the housing sufliciently to permit the upwardly bent extremity thereon to be passed through the remaining vend opening by sliding the bearing plate laterally. After both of the bent ends 17 and 1S kare thus positioned upon the exterior of the end walls 4f and 5, pressure upon the spring plate is released so as to permit the same to assume the form shown in Fig. 2 with the ends l17 and 18 in such position as to prevent lat# eral displacement of the plate. 14 is merely placed within the housing so as to rest upon the bearing` plate 12, and is adapted to be contacted by the bearing plate 19 attached to the car body in any well known manner.

Theoperation o1 the device is as follows:

Whenever the roller 14 is out ot contact with the upper bearing plate 19, the roller normally rests upon the concave central portion 13 of the bearing plate 12, towards which the roller gravitates under its own weight. Due to the curvature of the concave portion 13 and the extent of the roller which is embraced thereby, the roller 14 will be retained in its central position under all conditions of normal operation, the parts being so proportioned that the inertia of the roller will not be suiiicient to displace the same from its centered position even during the sudden application of the brakes. It the roller should tend to leave its centered position under this inuence, movement thereof will result in binding the same between the spring plate and upper wear plate due to the upward inclination of the plate towards its ends, in an obvious manner. Whenever the car body sways suiiiciently to bring the upper bearing plate 19 into contact with the roller, any subsequent swiveling movement of the truck will cause the roller to travel towards the end walls 4 or 5 and depress the extremities 15 or 16 of the bearing plate into contact with the bottom 1 of the housing, such extremities being free to ex under the pressure from the car body. As long as the bearing plate 19 remains in contact with the roller, the roller will maintain the bearing plate in its flexed condition, and the bearing will function in an obvious manner to permit relative movement between the truck and car body. As soon as the body litts sufhciently to break contact between the bearing plate 19 and the roller 14, the flexed extremity 15 or 16 will move upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the roller will gravitate under its 'own weight along the inclined extrei'nities back to the central concavcd portion 13 in which it is retained until the contact between the car body and roller is again established and subsequent swiveling between the parts occurs.

The return oit the roller occurs immediate ly upon the lifting of the car body and without the use of any auxiliary mechanism or parts, such as gears, levers and the like 'frequently employed. rlhis quick return, due t`o the lack of all special lost motion devices, is found to be of great importance in practical use and with applicants device is secured by a very simple construction. The

The roller lack of such mechanism also permits the roller to turn from time to time under impacts and shocks whereby new lines of contact between the roller and bearing plates are presented, thus prolonging the life of the bearing. y

Although the length of the bent extremities 17 and 18 is slightly less than the height of the end openings 9 and 10, no difficulty in displacement of the parts during operation is experienced, due to the tact that the point of contact of the roller 14 with thespring plate 12 is always at a suiiicien't distance from the end walls 4 and 5 to permit the bent ends 17 and 1S to extend above the end openings.

Any dirt or foreign substances collecting within the housing or upon the bearing plate 12 during the operation oi, the device will find its way to the openings 7, 8, 9 and 10, which are so disposed as to permit the same to escape readily, thus rendering the bearing seit-cleaning. y A t is thus seen that the construction described provides a bearing which is simple, durable, inexpensive to manufacture, which is quickly responsive and selt-centering, one in which the roller is maintained centered under all normal conditions of operation regardless of the sudden application of power to the brakes of the car, and in which the several parts are so related as to render the bearing self-cleaning; i

I claim: y 1. A side bearing for lower bolsters of railway cars comprising a'housing, a spring` bearing plate positioned therein, a tree roller restingl` loosel uion the bearinfr )late the i .J h l. 7

intermediate portion of the spring bearing plate being concave to correspond substantially to the curvature ot the periphery of the roller so as to receive the roller and retain the same in centered position whenthe roller is out of contact with the car body.`

2. A side bearing Jfor lower bolsters of railway cars comprising a housing, a. spring bearing plate positioned therein, a tree roller resting upon the bearing plate, the intermediate portion only of the spring bearing plate contacting the bottom of thel housing and being curved to receive and retain the roller in centered position while out ot contact with the car body, the extremities ,ot the bearing plate being inclined to render the roller self-centering and adapted, to be ilexed into contact with the said bottom when the roller is moved under pressure from the car body.

3. A side bearing for lower bolsters ,ot railway cars comprisinga housing provided with a. bottom and end walls, openings through the end walls adjacent the said bottom, a spring` plate positioned within the housing with its central portionponly. in con-r tact with the bottom and its extremities rinclined upwardly from said central portion and projecting through the end openings, a free roller in the housing resting upon the spring plate, the said central portion being concave to receive and retain the roller in centered position while out of contact with the ear body.

4. A side bearing for lower bolsters of railway cars comprising a housing' provided with a bottoni, side and end walls7 openings through the end walls adjacent the said bottom, a spring bearing plate positioned within the housing with its central portion only in contact with the bottom and its extremities inclined upwardly from said central portion and projecting through the end openings, a free roller in the housing resting upon the spring plate, the said central portion being concave to receive and retain the roller in centered position while out of contact with the car body, the curvature of said concave portion corresponding substantially to that of the roller, and the ends of the spring plate being bent into proximity with the end walls of the housing to prevent displacement thereof.

5. A side bearing for lower holsters of railway cars comprising a housing having a bottom, side and end walls, the end walls being provided with openings adjacent the said bottom, a free spring bearing plate disposed within the housing having its central portion only `contacting the bottom thereof and its extremities upwardly inclined from said central portion to render the roller selfcentering and projecting through the end openings, a free roller in the housing resting upon the bearing plate, the central portion of said bearing plate being concave to retain the roller in centered position while out of 'contact with the car body, the extreme ends of the plate being bent so as to embrace the end walls to prevent displacement thereof, the length of at least one of said bent ends being slightly less than the height of the end openings whereby to permit the spring plate to be readily inserted and removed.

ln testimony whereof, I sign my name.

ARNOLD STUCKl.

Witness:

EDWIN 0. JOHNS. 

